A first for Manx shooting

Isle of Man sports aid recipient Tim Kneale and fellow Manxman Jake Keeling produced fine showings in Dorset at the second round of the Great Britain selection shoots.

In tricky weather conditions, both shooters hit 121 ex 150 in qualification rounds, putting them into the semi-finals in third position.

Kneale and Keeling stayed focused, hitting 27 and 25 ex 30 respectively.

This put Kneale through to the gold medal duel with the current Olympic champion Peter Wilson.

Keeling had tied with UK sport funded shooter and British number one, Steve Scott.

A sudden death shoot-off ensued to decide who would take on Callum Fraser in the bronze medal duel.

Keeling promptly won the shoot-off, hitting 4 to Scott's 3 ex 4, then went straight into the bronze medal duel which he also won, hitting 27 to Fraser's 24 ex 30.

Next it was Kneale's turn in the Gold medal duel and in a very tight contest he prevailed with an excellent 29 to Wilson's 28.

Ultimately, the Manx shooters finished first and third, only separated by the Olympic champion.

The following day, Keeling just missed out on the semi-final hitting one less. Kneale pushed his score up to 127, putting him into the last four again.

After hitting 26, he went onto win the bronze medal duel against Matthew French.

Kneale and Keeling's reward for their work was the announcement both men have been selected for the Great Britain team travelling to the Cyprus World Cup in June.